Racing Victoria has announced that Channel 78 will go live from Friday 26th June – meaning Victorian races will be now be broadcast into Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth on free-to-air.
While the official showcase coverage will not begin until August 29, Seven West Media will start the test period tomorrow for five weeks – retransmitting the Racing.com broadcast to assist fans during the Sky News blackout.
The premium coverage will begin on Memsie Stakes Day and will showcase races, previews, interviews and replays of the 520 Victorian thoroughbred races each year.
For now, Channel 78 will only be available on free-to-air television but Racing Victoria intends to eventually roll it out onto Foxtel for punters’ convenience.
Regional viewers however, will still be without a solution during the black-out,
“This broadcast won’t reach all markets in the test period. There will be people in regional areas that cannot access the interim re-transmission of Racing.com on Channel 78. We’ll continue to work with Seven West Media on extending the coverage to regional areas as soon as possible” RV Chief Executive Bernard Saundry said.
“Punters, fans and participants in regional areas should be assured that they are an important part of Seven West Media’s broadcast plans for its showcase coverage once officially launched.
Discussions between Tabcorp and Racing Victoria have recommenced after Tabcorp made the decision to stop broadcasting Victorian races on the Sky Network (Channel 519 and 520) as a result of the RV Board’s resolution to pursue a broadcasting deal with Seven West Media.
They remain ongoing, however, and it is not known when Victorian thoroughbred races will return to Sky.
Racing.com has provided a summary of viewing options, see below:
From Friday, 26 June 2015 until otherwise advised, Victorian racing can be viewed via the following:
Free-to-air TV: Channel 78 in Melb, Syd, Bris, Adel, Perth*
Pubs & Clubs: Metro/suburban pubs and clubs who tune into Channel 78**
TAB Agencies: 92 Victorian TAB retail agencies (those not in a pub or club)
Mobile Phones: Racing.com, sportsbet.com.au***, crownbet.com.au***
Tablets (iPads): Racing.com, sportsbet.com.au***, crownbet.com.au***
Desktop Computers: Racing.com, sportsbet.com.au***, crownbet.com.au***
Mobile App: Racing.com
(* Channel 78 interim broadcast to commence Friday, 26 June 2015)
(** Consult your local pub or club from Friday, 26 June 2015)
(*** Service available to Sportsbet and CrownBet account holders only)
There is one small consideration. The broadcast will be in MPEG-4. Traditionally, broadcasts are in MPEG-2 format. Not all television sets are compatible with MPEG-2.
Some early digital TV and set-top boxes may be unable to receive MPEG-2 – most Australian digital TV equipment less than 10 years old should support MPEG-4, including any devices with the Freeview logo.
john henderson
Guest
a program that gives instruction in many areas to people that haven't got a clue (me) needs to be developed so that all those people can join in the activities, like how do you put a bet on
Terrence
Guest
Your docos are good any chance we could get one on I beleive greatest pacer ever mount Eden
Yvonne Daphne Crandell
Guest
We have satellite TV .Installation paid for by Government for pensioners.Should I be able to get channel 78 for Melbourne horse racing..?
keith
Guest
is their a viewer's guide giving me times and programmes on 78 such as when is track talk and geton ,great shows for the punter.
Tristan Rayner
Editor
Phil - how old is your TV? It needs to be able to handle MPEG-4. If you pop the model number of your TV we can try and help.
phil gillett
Guest
I like to watch the races when i'm having a bet,so i was very happy to hear about 78, but when i turned to 78 all got was a black screen and, but ican hear the race i just cant see it so its like the radio.INVALID FORMAT why my t v works fine on all the other stations
phil
Guest
will #78 ever produce a program guide,? including later replays ,phil
LESLIE
Guest
What a cock up racingVictoria.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Replays? Just be thankful you are able to get the channel. The majority of people can't
phil
Guest
as a avid follower of victorian racing for many years, now that channel 78 shows all victorian races, what about repalys and the time of those replays for the meetings, not always home to watch live, and if replays are shown how do one find out when as of yet unable to find a list of programs as TVN once had, does #78 have or intend to have a program guide in the near future, has anyone out there having same problems,
Gordon
Guest
I don't know why they say TVs newer than 10 years old will support MPEG4 (and I've seen in other reports newer than 2009). My TV bought new from DickSmith in 2013 (so not an ebay special or similar) does not support MPEG4.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Oh look, Ch78 is broadcasting in MPEG-4. So its restricted even still to digital TVs that support this version. That is why people are getting vision but no sound , sound but no visions, just the banner or cannot pick up 7s digital channels Racing Victoria are happy for even less people to view their product.. But don't worry, the sycophatic Melbourne media will tell us what a great move its been An absolute joke
patrick o'rafferty
Guest
No joy with Ch 78 today (29June) Sound is practically inaudible, picture and sound suddenly expire. Turn of and then retry - same results. My TV is only a recent model so can't work out what is going wrong. Apart from that, surely CH 78 could afford an annouincer of better capability than the current person.n
Steve
Guest
I'd guess because no one cares
no one in particular
Guest
Doing better than me. 3 TV's in the house, all I get is the racing.com as the channel info, and a blank screen Yes, three cheers for Victorian racing
ramjet
Guest
That may be fine for racing but for tose with older TVs it is a disaster, only way to fix is to buy a new one as the new format locks the TV into the frequencies that channel 7 uses.
Ian
Guest
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Now on free to air. Again Victorian Racing out doing other states. They have introduced the Championships in NSW. This is a start, but my belief a long way to go to match the Melbourne Cup/Racing season. The Melbourne racing season has been by far the best for years, going from strength to strength. Other states have never been within a bulls roar of Melbourne. I believe the VRC does it well. How long before the other states follow same as Victorian racing, or fall way behind like their racing has? Three cheers to Victorian Racing!!!
RonS
Guest
Watched Racing Now an Channel 78 (Brisbane) but could get no sound?????
phil
Guest
the reason we got foxtel was to watch the races and now we miss out cause we dont have seperate aerial..dont get it?
Sue
Guest
I'm sure we're not alone in having our TV set up so everything is viewed through the foxtel box. This means that until Racing Victoria decides to "roll it out for punters convenience" to foxtel we cannot watch Victorian races. To do so would mean changing the TV setup each time to run through an antenna. Absurd!